Aussie stock market steady as miners run out of steam
Adrian Black |
Australia’s share market is creeping higher as energy stocks and banks tick upward, despite profit-taking in miners after a recent run-up.
The S&P/ASX200 rose 9.8 points by midday, up 0.11 per cent, to 8,705.4, as the broader All Ordinaries rose 12.7 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 9,029.5.
The move followed a mixed session on Wall Street overnight, after softer labour data and uncertainty around Federal Reserve interest rate policy weighed on the economic outlook.
“Commodities are slipping, setting a cautious tone for the local session,” Moomoo dealings manager Jimmy Tran said.
Four of 11 local sectors were trading clearly lower by lunchtime, with raw materials down 0.6 per cent after three sessions of solid gains.
Large cap miners BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue moved lower, despite iron ore futures easing from multi-month highs, while copper prices ran into resistance.
BlueScope Steel shares fell 1.6 per cent to $29.39 after rejecting a “highly opportunistic” takeover bid from a consortium comprising the Stokes family-controlled SGH and US-listed Steel Dynamics.
Gold stocks were broadly in the red, as the precious metal eased to $US4,451 ($A6,624) an ounce, taking the All Ordinaries gold sub-industry roughly one per cent lower.
Energy stocks bounced 0.4 per cent despite oil prices remaining under pressure in the wake of the United States’ intervention in Venezuela.
Woodside and Santos ticked slightly higher on Thursday morning, while coal producers were mixed and uranium stocks resumed their recent uptrend.
The heavyweight financials sector edged 0.3 per cent higher, as Westpac and NAB forged ahead, but CBA and ANZ traded just below break-even.
Major insurers were in the red amid bushfire and heatwave warnings in all states except Queensland, which has been hit by flooding in recent weeks.
Buy-now, pay-later player Zip Co was the top-200’s best performer, up 7.2 per cent to $3.42 after building a base following October’s sell-off.
At the other end of the table was Droneshield, which ran into some profit-taking after the often-volatile stock rallied more than 100 per cent in December.
Information technology stocks outperformed the market, jumping 1.9 per cent in a broad-based rebound as the sector recovers from hitting nine-month lows earlier in the week.
Health care stocks also continued to rebound from multi-year lows, with most of the segment trading higher as dip-buyers picked up stocks at potential bargain prices.
Consumer discretionary stocks jumped 0.7 per cent, thanks to strong leads from Bunnings owner Wesfarmers and Eagers Automotive, while staples eked a less than 0.2 per cent improvement thanks to a rebound in Coles’ share price.
The Australian dollar was buying 67.22 US cents, down slightly from 67.53 US cents on Wednesday at 5pm.
AAP
